STATE OF 



Department of Schools 



PROGRAM 



FOR 



LINCOLN DAY 



AND SUGGESTIOISS FOR THE 



OBSERVANCE OF THE BIRTHDAYS OF OTHER 



EMINENT MEN- 



PREPARED BY THOS. C. MILLER, 

State Superintendent of Schools. 



CHARLESTON; 

Tribune Printing Company 
190y. 



n 



^"tS 10 1909 



^ 



"^ 



dlutro^urlorg '^att. 



While this pamphlet is issued with special reference to the celebration 
of the hundredth anniversary of Lincoln's birth, in the schools of West 
Virginia, I have included in it some brief sketches and references to 
other of the world's benefactors whose centenary also occurs this year. 
It is noticeable that a number of those who have been great leaders 
of thought and action were born in 1809. In this list appear the names 
of Lincoln, Gladstone, Darwin, Tennyson, Holmes, Poe, Chopin, Mendelssohn, 
all of whom in one way or other have added to the record of great 
achievements. Of course we will give prominence to the celebration of 
Lincoln's birthday on February twelfth, but it will not be out of place, 
as other birthdays occur within the year, to note the life and character 
of these men who have contributed to the art, the science, the history, and 
the literature of the world. In addition to those whose hundredth an- 
niversary occurs this year, some other noted Americans whose birthdays 
occur in February, are included in this list, as Washington, Longfellow, 
and James Russell Lowell. If, as has been said, the way to learn the history 
of the world is by reading the biographies of great men, our schools 
certainly have an excellent opportunity this year for studying the life 
and character of some of the world's most eminent men. 

This is the last publication that will be issued from this Department 
under my administration, and I am pleased to spend these closing 
days of my term in calling the attention of the youth of the State to 
those who have made the world better by their high ideals, their lofty 
patriotism, their unblemished character, and their sublime devotion to 
duty. 

Very respectfully, 



State Superintendent of Free Schools. 



Charleston, Jan. 11, 1909. 



Ltxcolx Centenary 




Abbaham Lincoln. 



And Otheb 1909 Anniversabies. 



DATES OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS. 



George Washington Feb. 22, 1732, 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Feb. 27, 1807, 

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Feb. 3,1809, 

Abraham Lincoln Feb. 12, 1809, 

Charles Darwin Feb. 12, 1809, 

Edgar Allan Poe Jan. 19, 1809, 

Frederick Francois Chopin Mar. 1, 1809, 

Alfred Tennyson Aug. 6, 1809, 

Oliver Wendell Holmes Aug. 29, 1809, 

William EJwart Gladstone Dec. 29, 1809, 

James Russell Lowell Feb. 22, 1818, 



Dec. 


14, 


1799. 


Mar. 


24, 


1882. 


Nov. 


4, 


1847. 


Apr. 


15, 


1865. 


Apr. 


19, 


1882. 


Oct. 


7, 


1849. 


Oct. 


17, 


1849. 


Oct. 


6, 


1892. 


Oct. 


7, 


1894. 


May 


19, 


1898. 


Aug. 


12, 


1891. 



MATERIAL FOR BIRTHDAY OBSERVANCES. 



While in many places teachers will have abundance of material for 
Lincoln Day, and for the celebration of the other birthdays named in 
this program, yet there may be some in country districts that will not 
have ready at hand just such sketches and outlines as they desire to 
supplement what they find in this pamphlet. I therefore note below sources 
from which material may be obtained. Of course histories, biographies 
and cyclopedias will contain much that is suited, but for brief sketches 
any of the following publications will be found most useful. 

Lincoln Centenary Program, O. H. Oldroyd, Washington, D. C. 

Lincoln Day, Program, Youth's Companion, Boston, Mass. 

The price of each of the above is 10c a copy with a discount for large 
orders. 

Exercises for Lincoln's Birthday, Educational Pub. Co., New York. 

Lincoln Centennial, Educational Publishing Co., New York. 

Lincoln Day Entertainments, A. Flanagan Co., Chicago. 

Little Classic Series, A. Flanagan Co., Chicago. 

Lincoln Selections, The Hollenbeck Press, Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Carl Schurz Lincoln, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 

Riverside Series No. 28, Extra A, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 

Abraham Lincoln, American Book Company, Cincinnati. 

Four Great Americans, American Book Company, Cincinnati. 



Acknowledgment is hereby made to the following named publications, 
persons and firms for courtesies extended in allowing the use of cuts 
and material found in this pamphlet: The World's Work; The Outlook; 
State Superintendent Draper of New York; Capt. O. H. Oldroyd, Washing- 
ton, D. C; A. Flanagan Co., Chicago; Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston; 
The Lincoln Educational League, New York City; National Art Supply 
Co., Chicago; Silver, Burdett & Co., New York. Youth's Companion, 
Boston, and the World's Chronicle, Chicago. 



Lincoln Cextenaky 



ORDER OF EXERCISES. 



Song America. 

Invocation. 

Lincoln's Boyhood, short essay by a girl. 

Brief biographical sketch, by a boy. 

Lincoln as President, by a more advanced pupil. 

Selected Lincoln Anecdotes by a number of pupils. 

Sayings of Lincoln, by all the pupils. 

Gettysburg Address, by a boy. 

Reading, "How they Sang the Star Spangled Banner at Lincoln's In- 
augural," by a girl. 

Our National Air, The Star Spangled Banner. 

Salute to the Flag. 

Recitation, "Your Mission." 

Extracts from the Second Inaugural. 

Reading of the letter to Mrs. Bixby, by a girl. 

What Presidents have said of Lincoln. 

Recitation, O Captain! My Captain! by three girls. 

Recitation, The Death of Lincoln. 

Address, Lessons from the life of Lincoln, by a speaker chosen for the 
occasion. 

Song, Battle Hymn of the Republic. 



SUGGESTIONS. 



Plan well beforehand. 
By all means have a flag for the occasion. 
Ask some good speaker to make a short address. 

Friday afternoon would seem to be tte most appropriate time for the ex- 
ercises. 

A good portrait of Lincoln should be placed on the wall back of the 
platform. 

If possible schools should purchase a bust of Lincoln, or the Gettysburg 
Address in bronze. This may be done at a later period. 

Practice the songs that are to be sung, and secure an organ or a piano 
If possible. 

Make preparation for visitors and by all means extend a special in- 
vitation to the patrons of your school. 

The exercises should result in putting into the school libraries additional 
books on Lincoln's life and character, and in placing his portrait neatly 
framed on the walls of our school rooms. 

This program is only a suggestion. Many teachers will be able ta 
prepare one better suited to the pupils under their charge. 



And Other 1909 Anniversaries. 





^^maf 



LlNCOLX'S BiKTIIPLACE. 



LINCOLN'S BOYHOOD DAYS. 



The home of Lincoln's boyhood days was a log cabin and he was almost 
a young man before he knew any home more comfortable than one made 
of logs. 

On February 12, 1S09, he was born in one of these rough cabins. There 
was but one room-, one door and no windows, and out on that little clear- 
ing in Kentucky Lincoln spent the first seven years of his life. "With 
the wind, rain and snow beating into the room through the cracks be- 
tween the logs, i^incoln's mother told him all she knew of the Bible, 
fairy tales and old legends. 

When Lincoln was seven years old the family moved to Indiana. Lincoln 
now began the work of building a new home, of clearing away the forests 
and of preparing fields for grain. Then there were chairs to be made from 
rude slabs of wood with holes bored in them for sticks which answered 
for legs; there was a rude bed to be made and many kitchen utensils, 
and Lincoln was ever ready to help. What if his shirt was of linsey- 
woolsey, his trousers of deer-skin and his cap of coon skin? He soon hai 
a man's will and wisdom and accepted his hard work cheerfully. 

He was ambitious to learn. "I only went to school by littles," he said 
later in life; "in all it did not amount to more than a year." Yet no lad 
ever improved every moment for study as did this boy. whose very longing 
did more for him perhaps than richer opportunities would have done. 
When not at work, he was studying. Many hours he spent by the fire- 
place teaching himself grammar, spelling and arithmetic. A shovel was 
his slate, a charred stick his pencil, when in the cabin; but often when 
out in the fields ploughing, he would let the horse rest at the end of a 
long furrow and Lincoln would then draw from his pocket a piece of 



LixcoLx Cextexaijy 



smoothly planed wood; this was his slate and his pencil would be a 
piece of soapstone or clay. 

Lincoln's love for his mother inspired him to do many good deeds, but 
in 1818 a terrible disease made its appearance in their settlement, and 
Mrs. Lincoln, weary and worn with the hardships of their life, bade good- 
by to her little ones, begging Abraham to remember what she had taught 
iim knd be a good boy. A coffin was made of lumber, which Mr. Lincoln 
cut, and under a great sycamore tree Abraham's mother was laid away 
to rest. There was no minister to speak words of comfort and this 
grieved Abraham, who knew how his mother loved God. He determined 
to have a funeral service for her. He knew of a minister who traveled 
about the country, so he tried to put his thoughts on paper, and at last 
was satisfied with the letter begging the minister to come and deliver a 
sermon over her grave. 

Many weeks and months passed, but one bright day the minister came. He 
had ridden one hundred miles on horse-back, forded swollen streams 
and followed narrow paths through the wilderness to comfort this little 
nine-year old boy. Friends gathered about the lonely grave, sweet hymns 
were sung and Lincoln never forgot that day. From that time he de- 
termined to be a good and noble man. His mother had taught him to be 
true and honest and he would always remember her wish. 

Years afterward, when he became a great man, he said, "All that I 
am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." 

The books within his reach were few. Best of all was the Bible, that 
library of sixty-six volumes; then there were "Aesop's Fables," that wise 
book of character, "Robinson Crusoe," and "Pilgrim's Progress," the Eng- 
lish classic. These he read until the last ember went out on the hearth, 
and read again as soon as the earliest rays of the morning sun lit up the 
log cabin loft where he slept. 

Neighbors of his owned other books and these he borrowed. "He read 
through every book he had heard of in that country, for a circuit of fifty 
miles," said one writer. A History of the United States and Weems' 
"Life of "Washington," laid the foundation of his political aspirations and 
education. 

Once Lincoln borrowed of a neighbor Weems' "Life of Washington." He 
sat up late to read the book, then carefully put it in an opening between 
two logs of the cabin wall. During the night the rain dripped on it. In 
the morning Lincoln was distressed to find the precious book stained, but 
he took it to the owner at once. "I'm sorry," he said, "I want to fix it up 
with you somehow, if you can tell me any way, for I ain't got the money 
to pay for it with." The man saw how badly Lincoln felt and he said, 
"Come over and shuck corn three days and the book's yours." The boy 
could hardly believe this book was to be his own. He felt as happy as if he 
had fallen heir to a fortune. 

He wished to master the principles of arithmetic but had no money to 
buy a book. He borrowed a copy of Pike's Arithmetic, and resolved to 
copy the essential parts of it. He sewed some sheets of paper together 
with a string, then with a (\m\\ pen copied the principal parts of the 
entire book. 




Abraham Lincoln. 




r« aftd seven years afr'Wr=fatli*#M08gM fortli en thk coniJri'«ni.a k0M 
oncelvei in Liberty, and dedicated: to: the' prepesition that aJ! men are cre|| 



Now we are engaged in a great esvJt: war, testing whether that nation, or ^awj^s 

, natjof^ so conceived atsd so decs Seated, can img endate. Ws an met ob a griaii 

I battk-lield of that war. ^fe have come to dei^lcate a jsortlsTi of that field, as a faall 

j rsstifig place fat those who here gave their lives that that nation might live./ ;;:si 

li is aJt&gethesr fittsng mi pros5« that w^shotiW do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we catt not <ie(!icate>-vi'e can riot consecrate-we cars sot lial| 
low-tftis f round. The brave men Jiving and dead^wbo struggled here have Mtise-s 
crated it. far above our ppor power- to add or detract." 

The world wii! Httie note, nor iong remerBber what we say here, but it cars nesfeiS: 
forget what they did here, it is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here taSiiil 
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus {ar so nobJy advanced, ; III 
It i& rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us._thali 
from these horsored dead we take increased devotion to that cause lor whith theyl 
gave the last fuii measure of devotion that we here highly resoive that these deaaJI 
shalj tiot have died in vain-tiiat this fiatioti. under God, shai! have a new birtts of frei| 
I dom-and that gov«ft5«n€rif of the people, by the pe«pie. for the people, sha!.! not perlsii 






AxD Other 1909 Anniversaries. 



LINCOLN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 



This is what Abraham Lincoln himself had to say of his own and his family his- 
tory, in a letter to his friend, the Hon. Jesse W. Fell, of Bloomington, 111., under 
■date of December 20, 1859 — the year preceding his election to the Presidency, and 
about the time his friends were beginning to think seriously of his nomination : 

"I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County Kentucky. My parents 
were both born in Virginia, of distinguished families — second families, 
perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of 
a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams and 
others in Macon County, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abraham 
Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County Virginia, to Kentucky, about 
1781 or 1782, where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians, not in 
battle but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. 
His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, 
Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family 
of the same name ended in nothing more than a similarity of Christian 
names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, 
and the like. 

"My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, and he 
grew up literally without education. He removed from Kentucky to 
what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached 
"our new home about the time the State came into the Union (1816). It 
was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the 
woods. There I grew up. There were some schools, so-called, but no 
qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond 'readin', ritin', and 
'cipherin' to the Rule of Three. If a straggler, supposed to understand 
Latin, happened to sojourn in the neighborhood he was looked upon as a 
wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. 
Of course, when I came of age, I did not know much. Still, somehow, 
I could read, write, and cipher to the Rule of Three, but that was all. 
I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this 
store of education I have picked up from time to time under the pressure 
of necessity. 

"I was raised to farm-work, which I continued until I was twenty-two. 
At twenty-one I came to Illinois and passed the first year in Macon County. 
Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard 
County, Where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came 
the Black Hawk War and I was elected a captain of volunteers — a 
success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I, went 
through the campaign, was elated, ran for the Legislature in the same year 
(1832), and was beaten— the only time I have ever been beaten by the people. 
The next, and three succeeding biennial elections, I was elected to the 
Legislature. I was not a candidate afterwards. During this legislative 
period I had studied law and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 
1846 I was once elected to the lower House of Congress, but was not 
a candidate for reelection. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced 
law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics, and 



10 Lincoln Centenary 



generally on the Whig electoral ticket making active canvasses. I was. 
losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known. 

"If any personal description of me is thought desirable it may be said 
I am, in height, six feet four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, 
on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with 
coarse black hair, and gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected. 

"Yours truly, 

"A. Lincoln." 



SAYINGS OF LINCOLN. 



These quotations may be given by pupils in ansioer to roll call. 



1. Always do the very best you can. 

2. It is sometimes well to be humble. 

3. With public sentiment nothing can fail, without it nothing can 
succeed. 

4. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who in- 
habit it. 

5. Gold is good in its place, but living, patriotic men are better than 
gold. 

6. Success does not so much depend on external help as on self reliance. 

7. When you have an elephant on hand and he wants to run away, 
better let him run. 

S. The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is why he made so 
many of them. 

9. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil 
up from poverty. 

10. It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy 
of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him. 

11. Let us have that faith that right makes might; and in that faith 
let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it. 

12. The reasonable man has long since agreed that intemperance is 
one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all evils among mankind. 

13. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect and must prevail, though 
we erring mortals may fail accurately to predict them in advance. 

14. The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every 
way he can, never suspecting that anybody is hindering him. 

15 Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change 
public opinion can change the government practically just so much. 

16. I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if it 
be the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by. 

17. Having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, 
let us renew our trust in God and go forward without fear and with 
manly hearts. 

18. If this country can not be saved without giving up the principle 
of liberty, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot 
than to surrender it. 



And Othkb 1909 Anniveesakies. 11 

19. A clergyman, calling at the White House, in speaking of the war 
said to the President, "I hope the Lord is on our side." "I am not at all 
concerned about that," replied Lincoln, "for I know that the Lord is al- 
ways on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer 
that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." 

20. It has long been a grave question whether any government, not 
too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain 
its existence in great emergencies. 

21. Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations 
against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the 
government, nor dungeons to ourselves. 

22. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield 
and patriot grave, every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad 
land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as 
surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. 

23. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound 
to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have. I must stand 
with any body that stands right; stand with him while he is right and 
part with him when he goes wrong. 

24. With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in 
the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the 
work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds; to care for him who 
shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do 
all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our- 
selves, and with all nations. 

25. I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy; I have never 
studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say, that 
if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the 
world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it 
would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will 
close by saying, God bless the women of America. 



During one of the dark periods of the rebellion when unfavorable news 
had been received from the Union army, a gentleman from Boston who 
was in Washington called upon Mr. Lincoln. In the conversation Mr. 
Lincoln spoke of Longfellow's poem. The Building of the Ship, and the 
comfort the closing stanzas had given him. The President then quoted 
a line or two, when the visitor began with, "Thou, too sail on, O Ship 
of State" and repeated the remainder of the poem. The President was 
deeply moved, the tears streaming down his cheeks, and at the close 
of the stanza remarked, "It is a wonderful gift to be able to stir men 
like that." 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 
Sail on, O UNION, strong and great! 
Humanity with all its fears. 
With all the hopes of future years, 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 



22 Lincoln Centenary 



We know what Master laid thy keel, 

What Workman wrought thy ribs of steel, 

Who made each mast, and sail and rope, 

What anvils rang, what hammers beat. 

In what a forge and what a heat 

Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! 

Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 

'Tis of the wave and not the rock; 

'Tis but the flapping of the sail. 

And not a rent made by the gale! 

In spite of rock and tempest's roar. 

In spite of false lights on the shore, 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, 

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 

Our faith triumphant o'er our fears. 

Are all with thee, — are all with thee! 

— From Longfelloiv's "The Building of the Ship." — Courtesy 
Houghton, Mifflin d- Co.. Boston, Mass. 



Sometimes Mr. Lincoln visited the soldiers in camp, and on several 
occasions it was thought he exposed himself unnecessarily; but he shook 
hands with many a homesick boy and gave encouragement and cheer 
wherever he went, though his own heart was oftentimes heavy with 
many cares. 




And Other 1909 Anniversaries. 



i:} 



THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS* 



Four-score and seven years ago our fathers 
brought forth on this continent a new na- 
tion, conceived In liberty, and dedicated to 
the proposition that all men are created 
equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil 
war, testing whether that nation, or any na- 
tion so conceived and so dedicated, can long 
endure. We are met on a great battlefield 
of that war. We have come to dedicate a 
portion of that field, as a final resting place 
for those who here gave their lives that that 
nation might live. It is altogether fitting 
and proper that we should do this; but, in 
a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can 
not consecrate — ^we can not hallow — this 
ground. The brave men, living and dead, 
who struggled here^ have consecrated it, far 
above our poor power to add or detract. 
The world will little note, nor long remem- 
ber what we say here, but it can never for- 
get what they did here. It is for us, the 
living, rather, to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they who fought here 
have thus for so nobly advanced. It is rath- 
"~""*-*-*'-^-^'"' "~ " er for us to be here dedicated to the great^ 

task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased 
devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devo- 
tion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in 
vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and 
that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not 
perish from the earth. 




.-^^ 



The dedication of a part of the battlefield at Gettysburg on November 
19th, 1863, as a National Cemetery, was a notable event. On the platform 
were seated cabinet officers, senators, generals, and prominent citizens 
from all over the country, while gathered about were soldiers, many of 
whom had been wounded and maimed in the great conflict there July 
1st, 2nd and 3rd. Edward Everett, recognized as the most accomplished 
speaker of the day, delivered the oration; Thomas H. Stockton, the 



!*Thk Gettysburg Address Tablet. — The beautiful bronze tablet of Lincoln's 
Gettysburg Address. 12 by 18% inches, a cut of which Is found on another page, is 
being placed in many schools and libraries throughout the land. This is a fine 
piece of work and worthy of a place on the walls of any educational institution or 
public building. The price of the tablet Is $60.00. but a fund has been provided 
to be used in furnishing the tablet at one-third this price. Further information 
as to how it may be secured may be obtained from the address given below. I 
trust that it will be possible for many schools of the State to place this tablet in 
their buildings. Address The Lincoln Educational League. 38 E. 21st Street, New 
York City. 



34 Lincoln Centenary 



Chaplain of the United States Senate, offered the prayer. Both the oration 
and the prayer wex-e recognized as worthy of the occasion. When Mr. 
Lincoln read his brief address there was some disappointment that he 
had not spoken longer, but Mr. Everett turned to him and said, "Ah, 
Mr. President, gladly would I exchange my entire hundred pages to have 
been the author of your twenty lines." This address is now reckoned 
among the world's great masterpieces and is quoted everywhere as 
among the most beautiful tributes of the kind ever uttered. I trust the 
boys and girls of West Virginia will memorize this address and I believe 
if they do so they will be led to aspire to a higher and nobler manhood 
and womanhood. 



As doubtless but few of our readers, and but comparatively few persons 
in the United States, have ever seen the prayer made by Thomas H. 
Stockton on this occasion, I have great pleasure in reproducing it here. 
Mr. Stockton was at that time Chaplain of the Senate and recognized 
as one of the most eloquent divines in the United States. His associate 
pastor in Philadelphia, Rev. Alexander Clark, had learned stenography, and 
doubtless it is to him we are indebted for recording this memorable 
utterance. 



REV. THOMAS H. STOCKTON'S PRAYER. 



At the Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, 
Thursday, November 19th, 1863. 



"O God our Father, for the sake of Thy Son our Saviour, inspire us 
with Thy Spirit, and sanctify us to the right fulfillment of the duties of 
this occasion. 

We come to dedicate this new historic center as a National Cemetery. 
If all departments of the one Government which Thou hast ordained over 
our Union, and of the many Governments which Thou has subordinated 
to our Union, be here represented; if all classes, relations, and interests 
of our blended brotherhood of people stand severally and thoroughly ap- 
parent in Iny presence; we trust that it is because Thou hast called us, 
that Thy blessing awaits us, and that Thy designs may be embodied in 
practical results of incalculable and imperishable good. 

And so, with Thy holy Apostle, and with the. Church of all lands and 
ages, we unite in the ascriptioii: — "Blessed be God, even the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who 
comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort 
them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are 
comforted of God." 

In emulation of all angels, in fellowship with all saints, and in sympathy 
with all sufferers; in remembrance cff Thy works, in reverence of Thy 
ways, and in accordance with Thy word; we laud and magnify Thine 
infinite perfections, Thy creative glory. Thy redeeming grace, Thy provi- 



And Other 1909 Anniversaries. 15 



dential goodness, and the progressively richer and fairer developments 
of Thy supreme, universal, and everlasting administration. 

In behalf of all humanity, whose ideal is divine, whose first memory 
is Thine image lost, and whose last hope is Thine image restored; and 
especially of our own nation, whose history has been so favored, whose 
position is so peerless, whose mission is so sublime, and whose future 
is so attractive; we thank Thee for the unspeakable patience of Thy 
compassion and the exceeding greatness of Thy loving kindness. In con- 
templation of Eden, Calvary, and Heaven; of Christ in the Garden, on 
the Cross, and on the Throne; nay, more, of Christ as coming again in 
all subduing power and glory; we gratefully prolong our homage. By this 
Altar of Sacrifice, on this Field of Deliverance, on this Mount of Salvation, 
"within the fiery and bloody lines of these "munitions of rocks," looking 
back to the dark days of fear and trembling, and to the rapture of relief 
that came after, we multiply our thanksgivings, and confess our obliga- 
tions to renew and perfect our personal and social consecration to Thy 
service and glory. 

Oh, had it not been for God! For lo! our enemies — they came unresisted, 
multitudinous, mighty, flushed with victory, and sure of success. They 
exulted on our mountains, they reveled in our valleys; they feasted, they 
rested; they slept, they awaked; they grew stronger, prouder, bolder every 
day; they spread abroad, they concentrated here; they looked beyond this 
horizon to the stores of wealth, to the haunts of pleasure, and to the 
seats of power, in our Capital and chief cities. They prepared to cast 
the chain of Slavery around the form of Freedom, binding life and death 
together forever. Their premature triumph was the mockery of God and 
man.^ One more victory, and all was theirs! But, behind these hills was 
heard the feebler march of a smaller but still pursuing host. Onward 
they hurried, day and night, for God and their country. Footsore, way- 
worn, hungry, thirsty, faint, — but not in heart, they came to dare all, 
to bear all, and to do all, that is possible to heroes. And Thou didst sustain 
them! At first they met the blast on the plain, and bent before it, like the 
trees in a storm. But then, led by Thy hand to these hills, they took 
their stand upon the rocks and remained as firm and immovable as they. 
In vain were they assaulted. All art, all violence, all desperation, failed 
to dislodge them. Baffled, bruised, broken, their enemies recoiled, retired, 
and disappeared. Glory to God, for this rescue! But, Oh, the slain! In 
the freshness and fullness of their young and manly life; with such 
sweet memories of father and mother, brother and sister, wife and child- 
ren, maiden and friends; they died for us. From the coasts beneath the 
Eastern star, from the shores of Northern lakes and rivers, from the 
flowers of "Western prairies, and from the homes of the Midway, and the 
Border, they came here to die for us and for mankind. Alas! how little 
we can do for them! "We come with the humility of prayer, with the 
pathetic eloquence of venerable wisdom, with the tender beauty of poetry, 
with the plaintive harmony of music, with the honest tribute of our Chief 
magistrate, and with all this honorable attendance: But our best hope is 
in Thy blessing, O Lord, our God! O Father, bless us! Bless the bereaved, 
whether present, or absent; bless our sick and wounded soldiers and 



16 LixcoLX Ckxte.xary 



sailors; bless all our rulers and people; bless our army and navy; bless, 
the efforts for the suppression of the rebellion; and bless all the associa- 
tions of this day, and place, and scene, forever. As the trees are not 
dead, though their foaage is gone, so our heroes are not dead, though 
their forms have fallen. The spirit of their example is here. It fills the 
air; it fills our hearts. And, long as time shall last, it will hover in these 
skies, and rest on this landscape; and the pilgrims of our own land, and 
from all lands, will thrill with its inspiration and increase and confirm 
their devotion to liberty, religion and God. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our 
daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead 
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom, 
the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 

NOTE : — There is a tradition in tlie denomination to whicli Dr. Stockton be- 
longed tliat Mr. Lincoln said afterwards tliat he was never closer to the Divine 
Presence than he was during the utterance of this prayer, and that from tliat time 
on lie did not have the least doubt as to the triumph of the Union arms and the 
perpetuity of the Nation. 



LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY. 



Executive Mansion 

Washington, Nov. 21, ISO'/. 
To Mrs. Bixhy, Boston, Mass. 

Dear madam. I' have been shown in the files of the War Department 
a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the 
mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel 
how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt 
to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I can not 
refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the 
thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly 
Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you 
only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride 
that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of free- 
dom. 

Yours very sincerely and respectfully, 

A. LixcoLX. 

The original of the above letter is in the British Museum, an agent, 
it is said, having paid a large price for it. Competent literary criticrj 
say it is one of the finest specimens in English literature for concise- 
ness, breadth of statement, and delicate expression of sympathy and 
appreciation. 



LINCOLN'S MAGNANIMITY. 



Upon the second day of the decisive battle of Gettysburg President 
Lincoln wrote an official order as Commander in Chief to General Mecde, 




Saint Gaudex's Statue of Lincoln, Lixcoi.n Paek, Chicago. 



How beautiful to see 

Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed, 

Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead; 

One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, 
Not lured by any cheat of birth. 
But by his clear-grained human worth, 

And brave old wisdom of sincerity! 

LowelVs "Commemoration Ode". 



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18 LiNcoLx Cextenary 



the Union commander, directing him to intercept Lee's retreat and give 
him another battle. The general had been in command of the army 
but five or six days, and as his predecessors had been much criticised 
for failures, the President knew he would be cautious about risking a 
battle after having gained one. He sent the order by a special mess'mger. 
with a private note saying that this seemed to him to be the thing to 
do, but that he would leave it to the ultimate decision of the military 
commander on the ground. The official order was not a matter of record, 
and he said need not be. If Meade would undertake the movement, .T.id 
it was successful, he need say nothing about it. If it failed, he could 
publish the order immediately. In other words: "Go ahead. Make an 
heroic attempt to annihilate that army in its disheartened state and before 
it can recross the river. . If the attempt succeeds, you take the gloi-y of 
it; and if it fails I will take the responsibility of it." 



LINCOLN'S RELIGION. 



Lincoln'.? religion was peculiarly his own. He did not belong to any church but 
he had a firm faith and ))elief in God. In the campaign of 18G0, he was greatly 
pained by the canvass of the voters in Springfield which showed that of the twenty 
clergymen in the city all but three were against him. In speaking of this to Hon. 
Newton Bateman, then Superintendent of Schools in Illinois, Lincoln said : 

I know there is a God and that he hates injustice and slavery. 1 see 
the storm coming and I know His hand is in it. If He has a place and 
work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready, I am nothint;, 
but truth is everything. I know I am right because I know that liberty 
is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them that 
a house divided against itself can not stand, and Christ and reason say 
the same thing; and they will find it so. Douglas doesn't care whether 
slavery is voted up or voted down, but God cares and humanity cares, 
and I care; and with God's help I shall not fail. I may not see the 
end, but it will come and I shall be vindicated; and these men will find 
that they have not read their Bibles aright. 



THE FAREWELL ADDRESS AT SPRINGFIELD 



My Friends: No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling 
of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these 
people, r owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, 
and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have 
been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether 
ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested 
upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever 
attended him, I can not succeed. With that assistance, I can not fail. 
Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be 
everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To 
His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend 
me, I bid you an affectionate farewell. 



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AxD Other 1909 Axxiveesaries. 19 



LITTLE BLOSSOM AXD PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 



This story probably better than any other, illustrates the noble and sublime 
qualities of our great Lincoln. It is a forceful illustration of his justice — justice 
tempered with mercy. 

"Well, my child," he said, in his pleasant, cheerful tone, "what do you 
want so bright and early in the morning?" 

"Bennie's life, please," faltered Blossom. 

"Bennie? Who is Bennie?" 

"My brother, sir. They are going to shoot him for sleeping at his 
post.' 

"Oh, yes;" and Mr. Lincoln ran his eye over the papers before him. 
"I remember. It was a fatal sleep. You see, child, it was a time of 
special danger. Thousands of lives might have been lost for his culpable 
negligence." 

"So my father said," replied Blossom, gravely; "but poor Bennie was 
so tired and Jemmie so weak. He did the work of two, sir, and it was 
Jemmie's night, not his; but Jemmie was too tired, and Bennie never 
thought about himself, that he was tired, too?" 

"What is this you say, child? Come here; I do not understand," and 
the kind man caught eagerly, as ever, at what seemed to be a justification 
of an offense. 

Blossom went to him; he put his hand tenderly on her shoulder and 
turned up the pale, anxious face toward his. How tall he seemed! and 
he was the President of the United States, too. But Blossom told her 
simple and straightforward story, and handed Mr. Lincoln Bennie's letter 
to read. 

He read it carefully; then, taking up his pen, wrote a few hasty lines 
and rang his bell. 

Blossom heard this order given: "Send this dispatch at once." 

The President then turned to the girl and said: "Go home, my child, 
and tell that father of yours, who could approve his country's sentence 
even when it took the life of a child like that, that Abraham Lincoln 
thinks the life far too precious to be lost. Go back — or wait until to- 
morrow. Bennie will need a change after he has so bravely faced death; 
he shall go with you." 

"God bless you, sir," said Blossom; and who shall doubt that God heard 
and registered the request? 

Two days after this interview the young soldier came to the White 
House with his little sister. He was called into the President's private 
office and a strap fastened upon his shoulder. Mr. Lincoln then said: 
"The soldier that could carry a sick comrade's baggage and die for the 
act so uncomplainingly deserves well of his country." Then Bennie and 
Blossom took their way to their green mountain home. A crowd gather- 
ed at the Mill depot to welcome them back; and as Farmer Owen's hand 
grasped that of his boy, tears flowed down his cheeks, and he was heard 
to say fervently: "The Lord be praised I" 



20 Lincoln Centenaby 



HOW THEY SANG THE ''STAR SPANGLED BANNER" WHEN LIN- 
COLN WAS INAUGURATED. 



Thomas Nasi, of Harper's Weekly. 



I was in Washington a few days prior to the inauguration of Lincoln 
in 1861, having been sent by the Harpers to take slvetches when that event 
should come off. I did nothing but walk around the city and feel the 
public pulse, so to speak. There was no necessity of saying anything to 
anybody. You intuitively recognized that trouble was brewing. Many 
people had sworn that Lincoln should not be inaugurated. Their utter- 
ances had fired the Northern heart, and the people loyal to the old flag 
were just as detei'mined that the lawfully elected President should be 
inaugurated, though blood should flow in the attempt. 

It was an awful time. People looked different then than they do now. 
Little knots of men could be seen conversing together in whispers on 
street corners, and even the whispers ceased when a person unknown to 
them approached. Everybody seemed to suspect everyone else. Women 
looked askance at each other, and children obliged to be out would 
scurry home as if frightened, probably having been given warning by the 
parents. 

The streets at night, for several nights prior to the inaugural cere- 
monies, were practically deserted. There was a hush over everything. 
It seemed to me that the shadow of death was "hovering near. I had con- 
stantly floating before my eyes sable plumes and trappings of woe. I 
could hear dirges constantly and thought for a while that I would have to 
leave the place or go crazy. 

I knew that all these somber thoughts were but imagination, but I also 
knew that the something jvhich had influenced my imagination was tangi- 
ble — really existed. 

The 4th of March came and Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated quietly and 
without ostentation. After the services were over and it became known 
that Mr. Lincoln had really been inducted into office there was a savage 
snarl went up from the disaffected ones. 

The snarl was infectious. 

It was answered by just as savage growls all over the city. But 
nothing was said. A single yell of defiance, a pistol-shot, or even an 
oath would have precipitated a conflict. 

Men simply glared at each other and gnashed their teeth, but were 
careful not to grit them so it could be heard. I went to my room in the 
Willard and sat down to do some work. I couldn't work. The stillness 
was oppressive. 

At least a dozen times I picked up my pencils, only to throw them 
down again. I got up and paced the floor nervously. I heard men on 
either side of me doing the same thing. Walking didn't relieve the 
severe mental strain. I sat down in my chair and pressed my head in my 
hands. 



And Other 1909 Axxiveksaries. 



21 



Suddenly I heard a window go up and some one step out on the balcony 
of the Ehbitt House, directly opposite. Everybody in the hotel had heard 
him. 

What is he going to do? I asked myself, and I suppose everyone else 
propounded the same mental interrogation. 

We hadn't to wait long. 

He began to sing the Star-Spangled Banner in a clear strong voice. 

The effect was magical, electrical. On window went up, and another, 
and heads popped out all over the neighborhood. People began to stir 
on the streets. A crowd soon gathered. The grand old song was taken 
up and sung by thousands. 

The spell was broken, and when the song was finished tongues were 
loosened, and cheer after cheer rent the air. 

The man rooming next to me rapped on my door and insisted that I 
should take a walk with him. As we passed along the corridors we were 
joined by others, men wild with joy, some of them weeping and throwing 
their arms around each other's neck. 

Others were singing and all were happy. 

Washington was itself again. The "Star-Spangled Banner" had saved 
it. 



THE SECOND INAUGURAL. 



[Abraham Lincoln, at Washington, March 4, 1865.] 

Fellow Countrymen: At this second appear- 
ance to take the oath of the Presidental office, 
there is less occasion for an extended address 
than there was at the first. Then a statement 
somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued 
seemed very fitting and proper. Now, at the ex- 
piration of four years, during which public 
declarations have been constantly called forth 
on every point and phase of the great contest 
which still absorbs the attention and engrosses 
the energies of the nation, little that is new 
could be presented. 

The progress of our arms, upon which all 
else depends, is as well known to the public as 
to myself; and it is, I trust reasonably satis- 
factory and encouraging to all. With high hope 
for the future, no prediction in regard to it is 
ventured. 

On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts 
were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it; all 
sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being delivered 
from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, in- 
surgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war — seeking 
to dissolve the Union and divide the effects by negotiation. Both parties 
deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the 




22 Lincoln Centknaky 



nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish; 
and the war came. 

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed 
generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These 
slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this 
interest was somehow the cause of the War. To strengthen, perpetuate, 
and extend this interest, was the object for which, the insurgents would 
rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to 
do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. 

Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which 
it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the con- 
flict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. 
Each looked for an earlier triumph, and a result less fundamental and as- 
tounding. 

Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes 
His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should 
dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the 
sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. 
The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been 
answered fully. 

The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of 
offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man 
by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American 
slavery is one of these offenses which in the providence of God must needs 
come, but which having continued through His appointed time He now 
wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible 
war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern 
therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in 
a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope, — fervently do 
we pray, — that this mighty scourge of war may soon pass away. Yet, 
if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's 
two hundred and flfty years of unrequited toil shall be simk, and until 
every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid with another 
drawn with the sword, — as was said three thousand years ago, so still it 
must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous al- 
together." 

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the 
right as God gives us to see the right, — let us strive on to finish the 
work we are in; to bind up the Nation's wounds; to care for him 
who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphans; to do 
all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among 
ourselves, and with all nations. 



Of the Second Inaugural, Lincoln himself, whose judgment was biased 
by no petty vanity of authorship, spoke of it in these terms: "I expect 
it to wear as well as — perhaps better than — anything I have produced; 
but I believe it is not immediatelj^ popular. Men are not flattered by 
being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the 
Almighty and them. To deny it, however, in this case it to deny that 
there is a 'God governing the world. It is a truth which r thought 



And Other 1909 Anxiversakies. 



needed to be told; and as whatever of humiliation there is in it falls 
most directly on myself, I thought others might afford for me to tell it." 
(Morse, Abraham Lincoln, II, pp. 314-15.) 



LINCOLl^-8 DEATH. 



Five weeks after 'the second inaugural address, in April, 1865, the 
Confederate army surrendered. The four years of sadness, bloodshed, 
devastation and sorrow were ended. Now, to this over-burdened man 
peace would take (the place of pain and rest would come instead of 
pressure, but at this very moment of the nation's triumph, rejoicing was 
turned to grief, for, while seeking recreation at Ford's Theatre, Lincoln 
was shot by John Wilkes Booth, who, with others, had formed a plot 
for the assassination of the President, Vice-President, and leading mem- 
bers of the cabinet. 

Kind arms bore the loved the honored President to a friend's house, 
and kind hearts, who had aided with sympathy and counsel during the 
long, sad years, watched by the bedside through the night until the 
morning when that noblest of all hearts ceased to beat. 

Messages of sorrow and sympathy came from all the world to the sor- 
rowing nation, to a nation who each year more deeply reveres the 
memory of him whose legacy was peace to his country, liberty to the 
enslaved, and an inspiring example of patriotism to the world. 



THE DEATH OF LINCOLN . 



Oh, slow to smite and swift' to spare. 

Gentle and merciful and just! 
Who, in the fear of God didst bear 

The sword of power, a nation's trust! 

In sorrow by thy bier we stand, 

Amid the awe that hushes all. 
And speak the anguish of a land 

That shook with horror at thy fall. 

Thy task is done; the bond are free; 

We bear thee to an honored grave. 
Whose proudest monument shall be 

The broken fetters of tne slave. 

Pure was thy life; its bloody close 

Hath placed thee with the sons of light. 

Among the noble host of those 

Who perished in the cause of Right. 

— Wm. CuUen Bryant. 



24 Lincoln Centenaky 



RECITATION— CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 



By Walt Whitman. 



O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; 

The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won; 

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, 

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring. 
But, O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, 
Where on the deck my captain lies Fallen cold and dead. 

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; 

Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills; 

For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths — for you the shores a-crowding; 

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning. 

Here, Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! 

It is some dream that on the deck You're fallen cold and dead. 

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; 

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; 

The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; 

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won. 

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I with mournful tread 
Walk the deck — my Captain iies Fallen cold and dead. 



YOUR MISSION. 



One of Lincoln's Favorite Songs. 



(May be sung to the tune, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.") 

If you cannot on the ocean 

Sail among the swiftest fleet. 
Rocking on the highest billows. 

Laughing at the storms you meet. 
You can stand among the sailors. 

Anchored yet within the bay. 
You can lend a hand to help them, 

As they launch their boats away. 



If you cannot in the conflict 

Prove yourself a soldier true. 
If where fire and smoke are thickest, 

There's no work for you to do, 
WHien the battlefield is silent. 

You can go with careful tread, 
You can bear away the wounded. 

You can cover up the dead. 



And Othee 1909 Anniversaries. 



25 




ICiiw AKi) Hates 
AtiuriK-v 



M')\ !. ,(iMi:t;V lU, AT! 

Ci-lHral 



Lincoln and His Cabinet. 
Used by courtesy of the New York Department of Education. 



26 Lincoln Centenary 



Do not then stand idly waiting 

For some greater work to do; 
Fortune is a lazy goddess 

She will never come to you. 
Go and toil in any vineyard, 

Do not fear to do or dare; 
If you want a field of labor, 

You can find it everywhere. 



LINCOLX'S FAVORITE POEM. 



Below will be found the first and last stanza of Lincoln's favorite 
poem, "O Why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud?" 

I 
O why should the spirit of mortal be proud? 
Like a fast-flitting meteor, a fast-fiying cloud, 
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave. 
He passes from life to his rest in the grave. 



'Tis the wink of an eye, 'tis the draught of a breath, 
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death, 
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud, — 
O why should the spirit of mortal be proud? 



A TRIBUTE TO LIXCOLX'S MEMORY. 



By Dennis B. Dorsey. 

Slowly we come to learn thy worth. 
Oh, genial man! oh, modest sage! 

Slowly we come to see we've lost 
The grandest spirit of the age. 

So near we felt the loving heart. 
Gentle and warm tow'rd all mankind. 

We ne'er looked up to see ourselves ■ 
O'ershadowed by the mighty mind. 

Now scarce we know which we most miss. 
The leader's mind or brother's heart; 

And scarce we know which most we prize. 
The brother's love or leader's art. 

The world with us will prize them both; 
To us alone they were not given; 



And Other 1909 Axniversakies. ^'^ 



Like light and air, to all mankind, 
They were a common gift of Heaven. 

Not we alone thy death deplored. 

Not we alone thy absence weep; 
The world through all the ages hence 

Thy name shall love, thy fame shall keep. 



LINCOLN'S INVOLUNTARY VERSE. 



"Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, 

That this mighty scourage of war may soon pass away. . 

Yet, if God wills, 

That it continue until" 

— Fi-om Second Inaugural. 




Edward Everett Hale is one of twenty-four eminent Boston clergy- 
men who spoke on the death of Lincoln. He said, "I dare not trust my- 
self to speak a word regarding this simple, godly, great man, who in a 
moment has been called from the rule over a few cities to be master over 
many things in that higher service where he enters into the joy of his 
Lord. To speak of him I must seek some other hour. Our lesson for 
to-day is that the Kingdom of God comes, and is eternal. . . . The 
President may be killed to-morrow, and his successor, and his; but the 
republic lives! While it seeks to do God's will, to will and to do of His 
good pleasure, He v/orks with it, and gives it immortality." 



28 Lincoln Centenaey 



Henry Ward Beecher, speaking from his pulpit, said, "Men will receive 
a new impulse of patriotism for his sake, and will guard with zeal the 
whole country which he loved so well — I swear you, on the altar of his 
memory, to be more faithful to the country for which he perished. They 
will admire and imitate the firmness of this man, his inflexible con- 
science for the right; yet his gentleness, as tender as a woman's, his 
moderation, which not all the heat of party could inflame, nor all the 
jars and disturbances of this country shake out of its place — I swear 
you to an emulation of ^.is justice, his moderation and his mercy." 



At the final obsequies in Springfield, Bishop Simpson, who had also had 
part in the services at Washington, said, "It was not, however, chiefly 
by his mental faculties that he gained such control over mankind. His 
moral power gave him pre-eminence. The convictions of men that 
Abraham Lincoln was an honest man led them to yield to his guidance. 
As has been said of Cobden, whom he greatly resembled, he made all 
men feel a sense of himself — a recognition of individuality — a self-relying 
power. They saw in him a man whom they believed would do what is 
right, regardless of all consequences. It was this moral feeling which 
gave him the greatest hold on the people and made his utterances almost 
oracular." 



Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Lincoln is the true history of the Ameri- 
can people in his time. Step by step he walked before them; slow with 
their slowness, quickening his march by theirs; the true representative 
of this continent; an entirely public man; father of his country, the pulse 
of twenty millions throbbing in his heart, the thought of their minds 
articulated by his tongue." 



Previous to the war Edwin M. Stanton had been an ardent Democrat 
and he had opposed Lincoln in some very bitter speeches. But he was in 
favor of maintaining the Union, and much to the surprise of the country, 
Mr. Lincoln called him to his Cabinet, in 1862. Here as Secretary of War 
he was a bulwark against the numerous influences that appealed to Lin- 
coln's sympathy, and which if allowed to control, would have been disas- 
trous to the Union cause. In the little group which stood around Lin- 
coln's dying bed on the morning of April 15, 1865, was Mr. Stanton. When 
the great President had breathed his last, Mr. Stanton broke the stillness 
of that sad room by exclaiming, "Now he belongs to the ages!" 



WHAT PRESIDENTS HAVE SAID OF LINCOLN. 



"The grief of the nation is still fresh. It finds some solace in the con- 
sideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by 
entering on the renewed term of the Chief Magistracy to which he has 
been elected." Johnson 

"A man of great ability, pure patriotism, unselfish nature, full of for- 
giveness to his enemies, bearing malice toward none, he proved to be 
the man above all others for the great struggle through which the nation 



And Others 1909 Anniveesaries. 29 



had to pass to place itself among the greatest in the family of nations." 

Grant 

"To him, more than to any other man, the cause of the Union and 
liberty is indebted for its final triumph." Hayes. 

'He was one of the few rulers whose wisdom increased with his powei', 
and whose spirit grew gentler and tenderer as his triumphs were multi- 
plied." Garfield 

"A supremely great and good man." Cleveland 

"In the broad common-sense way in which he did small things, he was 
larger than any situation in which life had placed him." Harrison 

"The story of this simple life is the story of a plain, honest, manly 
citizen, true patriot, and profound statesman, who believing with all the 
strength of his mighty soul in the institutions of his country, won be- 
cause of them the highest place in its government, — then fell a precious 
sacrifice to the Union he held so dear, which Providence had spared his 
life long enough to save." McKinley 

"Nothing was more noteworthy in all of Lincoln's character than the 
way in which he combined fealty to the loftiest ideal with a thoroughly 
practical capacity to achieve that ideal by practical methods. He did not 
war with phantoms; he did not struggle among the clouds; he faced 
facts; he endeavored to get the best results he could out of the warring 
forces with which he had to deal." Roosevelt 

"Certain it is that we have never had a man in public life whose sense 
of duty was stronger, whose bearing toward those with whom he came 
in contact, whether his friends or political opponents, was characterized 
by a greater sense of fairness than Abraham Lincoln." 

President-Elect Taft. 



ANECDOTES OF LINCOLN. 



One of the numerous paymasters at Washington sought an introduction 
to Mr. Lincoln. He arrived at the White House quite opportunely, and 
was introduced to the President by the United States Marshal with his 
blandest smile. While shaking hands with the President, the paymaster 
remarked, "I have no official business with you, Mr. President; I only 
called to pay my compliments." "I understand," replied "honest Abe;" 
"and from the complaints of the soldiers, I think that is all you do pay." 



Gen. Horace Porter, in his eulogy of Abraham Lincoln, said that the 
great war President wasn't much as a champagne drinker. The General 
recalled a visit of Mr. Lincoln to City Point. On his arrival the General 
said that Mr. Lincoln was suffering from the gastronomic disturbances 
incident to most folks who have sailed on rough water. "A young staff 
officer, vei-y previous, he was," said the General, "grabbed a bottle of 
champagne and thrust it toward Mr. Lincoln, saying that that was the 
very thing he needed. 'No, young man," Mr. Lincoln said, 'I have seen 
too many fellows seasick ashore from drinking that very article.' " 



As soon as the West Virginia State bill passed Congress, Mr. Carlisle, 
true to his purpose, went at once to the President. "Now, Mr. Lincoln." 



30 LixcoLX Cextexary 



said he, "you must veto that bill." "Well," said the honest president, 
with just the least bit in the world of humor, "I'll tell you what I'll do; 
I'll split the difference and say iiothing about it.' . 



Judge Baldwin, an old and highly respectable gentleman, solicited a 
pass outside the Union lines to see a brother in Vii'ginia, but being 
refused, finally obtained an interview with Lincoln and stated his case. 
"Have you applied to General Halleck?" inquired the President. "And 
met with a flat refusal," said Judge B. "Then you must see Stanton," 
continued the President. "I have, and with the same result," was the 
reply. "Well, then," said the President with a smile of good humor, 
"I can do nothing, for you must know that I have very little influence 
with this Administration.'" 



During a conversation on the approaching election, in 1864, a gentle- 
man remarked to President Lincoln that nothing could defeat him but 
Grant's capture of Richmond, to be followed by his nomination at 
Chicago and acceptance. "Well," said the President, "I feel very much 
like the man who said he didn't want to die particularly, but if he had 
got to die, that was precisely the disease he would like to die of." 



The President telegraphed to General Hooker in 1863 in the following 
words; "If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it 
on the plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the 
animal must be slim somewhere. Could you not break him?" 



In a speech during the campaign for his re-election, Mr. Lincoln spoke 
as follows: "I have not permitted myself, gentlemen, to conclude that I 
am the best man in the country (for President); but I am reminded in 
this connection of a story of an old Dutch farmer who remarked to a 
companion once that 'it was not best to swap horses while crossing a 
stream.' " 



It is related that a gentleman from a Northern city entered Mr. Lin- 
coln's private office in the spring of 1862, and earnestly requested a pass 
to Richmond. "A pass to Richmond!" exclaimed the President. "Why, 
my dear sir, if I should give you one it would do you no good. You may 
think it vei-y strange, but there's a lot of fellows between here and 
Richmond who either can't read or are prejudiced against every man 
who totes a pass from me. I have given MoClellan and more than 200,- 
000 others passes to Richmond, and not cne of them has yet gotten there!" 



At a levee at the White House, during President Lincoln's term, the 
Russian Ambassador stood talking to the President when the President 
asked him this question: "Would you have taken me for an American 
if you had met me anywhere else than in this country?" 

"No," said the distinguished muscovite, who, like old Abe, was a bit 
of a wag, "r should have taken you for a Pole." 

"So I am," exclaimed the President, straightening himself up to his full 
attitude, "and a Liberty Pole at that." 

Note. — Those anecdotes may be made a part of the quotation exercise. 



And Other 1909 Anniveesaries. 31 



THE LINCOLN ANNIVERSARY. 



Never before in American history has there been such a celebration 
as that of February 12 will be. Every city in the land will oflicially cele- 
brate; but New York will lead all the rest and set the pace, under the 
lead of ex-State Superintendent Charles R. Skinner. The order of ex- 
ercises there is given as a suggestion: — 

8 a. m. — ^National salute from all the forts in the harbor and from all 
battleships in port. 

10:30 a. m. to 12 m. — Exercises in all the 561 schoolhouses of the city, 
and in all private and parochial schools, orphan asylums, protectories, 
etc. 

12 m. — In each classroom or school or institution a selected pupil will 
recite "The Gettysburg Address" preceded by a short historical statement 
leading up to the preparation of the address. The Gettysburg address 
will also be read at every army post, and aboard every ship of war, and 
at every American embassy and consulate and at every federal building 
the flag will be dipped for an hour at midday. At noon the wheels on all 
the railroad and, traction lines and in every mill and factory in the 
country will be stopped for three minutes. 

At 2 p. m. — Address by Rev. Lyman Abbott at Cooper Institute, where 
Lincoln delivered his celebrated address in 1860 which did so much to 
secure his nominaton for president. 

8 p. m. — Public exercises at all the armories of the city, presided over 
by the colonels of the regiments, with regimental music, prayer, and 
benediction by the regimental chaplain, and an oration by an invited 
speaker. 

Public exercises at Carnegie hall, College of the City of New York, 
with oration and singing by singing societies. It is hoped that President 
Taft and Governor Hughes will speak at Carnegie hall. 

Public exercises in forty-six public schools in centres of the forty-six 
school districts of the various boroughs of the city for adults. Members 
of the board of education will preside at these meetings. There will be a 
chorus of school children at each meeting, reading of Whitman's "O 
Captain, My Captain," and an address by an invited speaker. — Journal of 
Education. 

Numerous celebrations will occur throughout the land on February 
twelfth in commemoration of the Lincoln centenary and in some places 
the occasion will be a notable one. At Lincoln's birth place in Ken- 
tucky, the corner stone of a fine memorial hall enclosing the log-cabin in 
which Lincoln was born, will be laid and President Roosevelt will deliver 
the address. 

It is announced that in New York a half million dollars is to be raised 
to endow the Lincoln Hospital and Home as a perpetual monument to 
Abraham Lincoln. Formal announcement of this beneficent movement 
was made recently at the graduating exercises of the Training School 
for Nurses of that institution. 



32 Lincoln Centenary 



LINCOLN DAY PROCLAMATION {1906) 
Gov. Curtis Guild, Jr. 



On the 12th day of February, ninety-seven years ago, there was born 
in a home of poverty, in Kentucky, a boy destined to share with George 
Washington the first place in the hearts of Americans. 

The General Court has determined, and wisely, that the anniversary 
of an event so auspicious should no longer remain unrecognized by this 
Commonwealth. By virtue of the authority vested in me by Chapter 328 
of the Acts of 1905. I therefore declare and proclaim February 12th 
Lincoln Day, and urge upon the people of the Commonwealth the con- 
sideration and commemoration of the life and services of Abraham Lin- 
coln. 

The hour of Lincoln's birth is unknown. I suggest that at twenty- 
two minutes past seven in the morning, the hour of his death, the tolling 
of a passing bell remind us that at that hour the United States lost the 
brave, patient soul that would have carried our country in safety and 
honor through reconstruction, as it carried it in safety and honor through 
war. 

Let the children in our schools, the children whom Lincoln loved so 
well, come to their places in the morning only. Let them welcome to their 
school homes the survivors of the Grand Army that made the Federation 
a Nation. Let the children hear the words spoken at Gettysburg and the 
Emancipation Proclamation, and let them join with those living of Lin- 
coln's soldiers in singing the Star Spangled Banner and The Battle Hymn 
of the Republic. 

Let the National colors be displayed from sunrise to sunset from the 
liberty pole, the public building and the home. Let cannon at mid-day 
fire the National salute. Let our merchants and employers of labor close 
their places of business as generally as possible during the noon hour. 
Let such churches as may be flung open, that those who vish to worship 
may enter. Finally, may all men on Lincoln Day, wherever noon over- 
takes them, pause for one passing moment and give thanks to God who, 
having sent us the Founder of our Liberties, sent us again in our hour 
of need a Savior of the Nation. 



TEACHING PATRIOTISM IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



Ye who love the Republic, remember the claim, 
Ye owe to her fortunes, ye" owe to her name. 
To her years of prosperity past and in store, — 
A hundred behind you, a thousand before! 

Chorus — 

'Tis the school-house that stands by the flag; 

Let the nation stand by the school! 
'Tis the school-bell that rings for our Liberty old, 
'Tis the school-boy whose ballot shall rule. 




He knew to bide his time, 

And can his fame abide, 
Still patient in his simple faith sublime. 

Till the wise years decide. 
Great captains, with their guns and drums, 
Disturb our judgment for the hour, 

But at last silence comes; 
These all are gone, and, standing like a tower. 

Our children shall behold his fame. 
The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man. 
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame. 
New birth of our new soil, the first American. 

Courtesy Houghton. Mifflin and Co., Boston. 



( 



And Otheb 1909 Anniversaries. 



33 



The blue arch above us is Liberty's dome, 

The green fields beneath us Equality's home; 

But the school-room to-day is Humanity's friend — 

Let the people the flag and the school-room defend! 

— Hezekiah Butterworth. 




"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it 
stands: One Nation indivisable, with Liberty and Justice for all." 



LINCOLN AND DARWIN. 



The twelfth day of February, 1809, was a memorable one for the 
world, for into it on that day were born two of the foremost men of the 
last century, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. There could be no 
more striking contrast than in the careers of these two men. One led 
a quiet and secluded existence; the other a life of action in the glare 
of publicity. One came from a distinguished ancestry; the other from 
almost unknown stock. The coincidence of their birth is the sole fact 
which at first thought connects them in our minds. Yet there is a cer- 
tain similarity in their lives which the antithesis of their outer experiences 
only sets in higher relief. 

The story of the boyhood and youth of Lincoln is familiar to every 
American child. Born in a miserable log-cabin in the newness of Ken- 
tucky; accompanying his parents in their frequent journeys in the effort 
to find a better livelihood; gaining the scant rudiments of knowledge 
by the fireplace on a winter's evening, with the hearthstones for slate 
and a bit of charcoal for pencil; equal to the severest feats of manual 



34 Lincoln Centenary 



labor as a young man and respected by his neighbors for his physical 
strength and courage; borrowing and eagerly reading books of instruction; 
finding by degrees an opening into politics and law; and finally receiving 
the gift of the place of highest usefulness, he stood at last in that most 
difficult position to which any man has ever been called, at the head of a 
great nation in civil conflict. 

His last years were full of burdens and heavy griefs, and the ended 
war was closely followed by his most untimely death. "While the nation 
still needed it sorely, that gentle and heroric life was cut down, and he 
who had spared no service was not spared. 

During the years that Lincoln, hidden from the sight of all but a 
few ignorant neighbors (afterward famed for their knowledge of him), 
was struggling towards his unknown goal, the young Charles Darwin, 
in beautiful England, in his father's home at Shrewsbury, was also ap- 
proaching manhood. With all the professions open to him, he shoved 
an inclination to none of them. The schools of that day, chiefly of the 
classical order, had no attractions for him. He was fond of outdoor 
sports, and showed an intense love for such biological studies as he was 
enabled tq pursue at Cambridge. And yet, so little did he drp.aiu of 
what his lifework was to be, that he contemplated entering the ministry 
of the Church of England, and made some progress in preparing for it. 
With much effort he succeeded in taking a degree at Cambridge, and soon 
thereafter, being recommended by one of his professors, was o leered the 
position of naturalist on board a steamer bound for a five years' trip 
around the coast of South America. All thought of the clergy was 
abandoned. His eyes were suddenly and joyfully opened to the fu'.uve 
before him. He saw in the realm of biological science the field of use- 
fulness which he had longed for, and his perplexities were put at rest. 

There is a curious parallelism in the case of human bondage. It was 
claimed that the abolition of slavery would mean the ruin of the South. 
And precisely the reverse was true. Instead of killing all industries, the 
removal of slavery remodeled and improved them. It reorgani.cod lalor. 
and saved the South from commercial stagnation; for no industries in 
a slave community can compete with those carried on by froe 'nbor. 
Most of all, the removal of slavery meant the uplifting of millions of 
human beings, not suddenly, but through the slow process by which all ad- 
vancement must be attained. 

Though the present day finds us not yet on the uplands, we are nearer 
than we were, and for this we have to thank, among many other heaven- 
sent guides, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. Lincoln struck away 
the shackles from the slave. Darwin broke the chains of superstition 
that held the mind in bondage. Lincoln lifted the heart of all mankind 
to higher conceptions of justice and brotherhood. Darwin lifted the mind 
from hopeless error to nobler conception of the universe and man's 
destiny. The moral daring of the liberator and the intellectual courage 
of the philosopher achieved results among the greatest bequeathed us 
by the nineteenth century. 

The crowning work in the life of each was the result of some twenty 
years of study along that special line. In 1837 Darwin first began +o 
see some light upon the problem of the origin of species. With a "work- 



And Othek 1909 Anniversaries. 35 



ing hypothesis" in mind, and with almost incredible patience, he observed 
in both the plant and animal worlds the limitless variations and 
adaptations of nature. Every possible objection to his theory he committed 
to writing as soon as it occurred to him, and if possible found its 
solution. He evaded nothing, but met fairly every perplexing fact and 
allowed it due weight. When, in 1869, he gave the result to the world 
in his masterly volume, "Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection," 
few if any criticisms of value were made against the theory which he 
had not forseen and at least in some degree dealt with. 

As Lincoln alone can be placed beside Washington in his work for the 
advancing of liberty and the human race, so Darwin alone can be placed 
beside Newton, that mighty intellect of the world, in his work for the 
advancement of knowledge. There should be no attempts to invest the 
memory of either with unreal virtues. We would know each as he was, 
without a halo, as both, haters of all deception, would have wished. Both 
made mistakes. Lincoln's idea of Negro colonization was extremely 
visionary, and historians will no doubt always disagree as to the wisdom 
of his course respecting various events. Darwin's pangenesis theory was 
wildly hypothetical, and some of his deductions are found to be in error, 
while others are still in question among biologists. Errors of this de- 
scription, however, do not lessen our reverence and gratitude, nor should 
they. Reverence for greatness is one of the uplifting forces of the world. 
Revering the almost divine patience with which Lincoln went through 
the days of storm and stress, we revere it anew in the long years of 
suffering and toil which Darwin so cheerfully underwent. Admiring 
the total indifference to fame which Lincoln displayed, we admire it 
again in Darwin, whose labor was wholly a labor of love for scientific 
truth. Touched by Lincoln's tireless sympathy and kindness, we likewise 
treasure in our thoughts the gentleness of Darwin. 

On the day of their birth these two were sundered apparently as far 
by heritage, environment, and destiny as by the ocean that rolled between 
them. Yet they had more in common than the primal virtues of courage and 
honesty which we find in all great men. And for what they were, as well 
as for what they achieved, the world will forever love the memory of 
the American of Americans and of the Sage of Down. 

Courtesy The World's Work, issue of Jan., 1909. 

In view of the awakened interest in Darwin's theories and their ac- 
ceptance in a modified form by the scientists of today, the following 
. paragraphs are interesting. He says, 

"I have almost always been treated honestly by my reviewers, passing 
over those without scientific knowledge as not worthy of notice. My views 
have often been grossly misrepresented, bitterly opposed and ridiculed, 
but this has been generally done, as I believe, in good faith. On the whole 
I do not doubt that my works have been over and over again greatly 
over-praised. I rejoice that I have avoided controversies, and this I 
owe to Lyell, who many years ago, in reference to my geological works, 
strongly advised me never to get entangled in a controversy, as it rarely 
did any good and caused a miserable loss of time and temper. 



36 



LixcoLX Centenary 



Whenever I have found out that I have blundered, or that my work 
has been imperfect, and when I have been contemptuously criticised, and 
even when I have been over-praised, so that I have felt mortified, it has 
been my greatest comfort to say hundreds of times to myself that "I have 
worked as hard and as well as I could, and no man can do more than this." 
I remember when in Good Success Bay, in Tierra del Fuego, thinking 
(and, I believe, that I wrote home to the effect) that I could not employ 
my life better than in adding a little to natural science. This I have 
done to the best of my abilities, and critics may say what they like, but 
they cannot destroy this conviction." — From Historic Characters. 




Lincoln Monument, Springfield. Ills. 



"There is no prouder grave 

Even in our own proud clime. 

We tell thy doom without a sigh. 

For thou art Freedom's now and Fame's 

One of the few. the immortal names, 

That were not born to die." 



And Other 1909 Anxiversakies. 37 



ThE A^^NIVERSARY YEAR. 



Used hy courtesy of the editor of The Outlook. 



The series of centennial anniversaries which will mark the year 1909 
is so remarkable, in range of genius, quality of achievement, and nobility 
of character, that it can hardly fail sensibly to affect the thoughts of 
English-speaking peoples in all parts of the world. These anniversaries 
will celebrate the birth of Chopin, Mendelssohn, Poe, Tennyson, Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, Gladstone, Abraham Lincoln and Darwin. 

Dr. Jowett held that the best way to teach ethics is by biography; 
he might have added that the most effective way of making men see 
the spiritual possibilities of life is by bringing within their vision the 
achievements of men of genius. The nineteenth century was regarded by 
a host of people as incarnating the spirit of commercialism and as the 
most materialistic period in the life of humanity. A glance at the list 
of men who were born in 1809 and the most hurried survey of what they 
were, what they did, and what they said, shows how partial that judg- 
ment was. In 1851 the first World's Fair was opened in London, and 
Macaulay was celebrating the inventive genius of man. In May Macaulay 
wrote: "I made my way into the building; a most gorgeous sight; vast; 
graceful; beyond the dreams of the Arabian romances. I cannot think 
that the Csesars ever exhibited a more splendid spectacle. I was quite 
dazzled. I felt as I did on entering St. Peter's." In October he wrote: 
"As the Exhibition is drawing to a close the crowd becomes greater and 
greater. Yesterday I let my servants go for the last time. I shall go 
no more. Alas! Alas! It was a glorious sight!" Carlyle, on the other 
hand, was denouncing the worship of machinery and the appearance in 
London of all manner of strange folk. "Crystal Palace — bless the mark! — 
is fast getting ready," he wrote in April, 1851, "and bearded figures al- 
ready grow frequent on the streets; all nations crowding to us with their 
so-called industry or ostentatious brothery." Alfred Tennyson had just 
published "In Memoriam," one of the foremost docurhents in the spirit- 
ual history of man; an interpretation, at once fearless and reverent, of 
the great issues of life as they presented themselves to a poet who had 
surveyed the whole field of knowledge and had felt the full force of 
scientific discovery. 

The nineteenth century was notably rich in great composers; among 
them Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, and Wagner. In his own 
field and in his own form, composition for the piano, Chopin -was as much 
a master as any of them. To him belongs the distinction of the man who 
creates the form in which he works. His command of musical expression 
showed him the perfect artist; while the delicacy, subtlety, and power 
which he displayed in the form which he made his own are brought out 
only when a virtuoso of the first rank, like Paderewski, interprets him 
on the piano. It has been the misfortune of Mendelssohn, who was also 
born in 1809, and of Chopin to have their work blurred by an almost 
incredible amount of untrained and immature interpretation. Both 
musicians have suffered severely at the hands of young pianists in the 



38 Lincoln Centenaby 



earlier and often in the latter stages of their training, and both have 
survived. The reaction that followed the immense popularity of Mendels- 
sohn has been succeeded by a more adequate appreciation of his exquisite 
sense of melody. Both Chopin and Mendelssohn were artists in their 
sensitiveness to beauty and their command of the technique of their work. 

While it is true that the work of Edgar Allen Poe shows neither 
greatness of thought nor mastery of the spiritual life, it does show a 
highly individual and distinctive genius; the genius or a writer whose 
misfortunes were due to a weakness of will and an abnormal physical 
sensitiveness which threw his life into confusion, limited the quantity 
and, many times, the quality of his work, made him the prey of injudi- 
cious and unfriendly biographers, and the victim of a long line of critics 
who suffered themselves to be diverted by the facts of his life from a 
just estimate of his literary achievements. Poe cannot be characterized 
in a phrase; it is enough here to emphasize the fact that his work is as 
free from the touch of commercialism, from the vulgar woi-ship of success, 
as Tennyson's; that not a line that came from his pen need be erased 
as a matter of moral health, and that in three different fields his achieve- 
ments, though not of the highest order, stand in a class by themselves. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, his contemporary, was the embodiment of the 
Brahmin spirit of old New England, and the incarnation of old Boston, 
with his four-o'clock-in-the-morning wit, the ready and kindly sentiment 
which made him a poet of occasions whose verse rose above the level 
of occasional poetry; a wit whose arrows were never poisoned; a psy- 
chologist who did not drain life of its faith in itself, but who knew 
that there were experiences and emotions which were beyond the special- 
ized instruments of analysis; and a talker who belongs with the most 
vivacious and gifted men of his time. It is a small matter that he was 
quite conscious of his own charm. The touch of vanity in him gave 
his personality a certain piquancy. "I hear " he said to a friend not many 
months before his death, "that everybody is saying that I am a spoiled 
old man. What difference does it make if you are spoiled after you are 
eighty?" 

The greatest of this little group of poets, a master, like Poe, of the 
music of words, lacking the wit and vivacity of Holmes, but strong 
alike as a thinker and an artist, Alfred Tennyson will probably continue 
to dominate the English poetry of the latter half of the nineteenth 
century, and be accepted by posterity, as he is by readers of to-day, as 
in a very true sense the Victorian poet, representing and expressing the 
spirit of his age with unsurpassed clearness and beauty. While England 
was rushing along on the path of industrial development with tumultuous 
energy, Alfred Tennyson led the life of a man of letters with a dignitj% 
Independence, and clear vision of the real values of life which neither 
the great successes of his time, nor its tumult, disturbed. Not only his 
work, but his life, were of inestimable value to the whole English-speak- 
ing world. Like Milton, he used the gift of music, not to put men to 
sleep or to lull them into indolence, but to energize and stimulate them; 
and his career, so unlike Milton's, though not less noble, was a silent 
protest, against greed, ambition, and commonness. 



And Other 1909 Anniveksakies. 39 

Two great names star the public life of the English-speaking world 
in the nineteenth century. Rich as it was in statesmen, England pro- 
duced no personality dealing with public affairs of greater gift or purity 
than Mr. Gladstone; and in this country none so masterful in knowledge 
of his countrymen and sagacity in directing great movements, so dear 
to the hearts of the people, as Abraham Lincoln. There could not be 
greater contrast of human condition than that which exists between these 
two men. 

Gladstone was born in the most fortunate circumstances, in an old and 
cultivated society, with all the means of personal enrichment and all the 
avenues of culture open to him; a student of Oxford at a time when the 
university was deeply moved by the presence of great teachers; taking 
up English public affairs on the eve of a great expansion of national 
life; called again and again to be a leader in the movement for political 
liberation; fiercely combatted, bitterly criticised, but always recognized 
as a man of unique personality; eager, impetuous, ardent alike in the pur- 
suit of knowledge and of the good of his fellows. Lord Salisbury summed 
up the opinion of England when he described Gladstone as "a great 
Christian." 

The life and work of Lincoln will soon be commemorated with such deep 
emotions of admiration and gratitude in all parts of the continent that 
it is sufficient here to recall the bleak surroundings of his childhood, 
the narrow conditions of his youth, the limitations of his educational 
opportunity, the absence from his career of all circumstances and condi- 
tions which make success easy, his wonderful 'self-education, and the 
transformation of the self taught lawyer of the old frontier into one of the 
heroes of humanity. 

Two hundred years hence it is probable that no name in the nineteentli 
century will mean more than that of Charles Darwin, the man of an age 
whose chief characteristic was its immense scientific activity and achieve- 
ment. Now that the fear of the influence of science has passed from the 
minds of religious people and that "The Origin of Species" is read neither 
with amusement nor fear, but with intelligence, Charles Darwin stands 
out as the almost ideal seeker after truth; patient, tireless, teachable; 
ready to follow wherever the fact led without regard to his theories — 
one who not only loved truth, but pursued it with indefatigable step 
through a long and laborious life. It was Charles Darwin's good 
fortune to come at the exact moment when a great truth had been slowly 
dawning here and there on a large group of individual minds, to bring 
that truth into clear light by scientific demonstration, and to live to see 
it reconstructing or interpreting every department of knowledge and 
thought. 

Surely the year on which we are now entering cannot fail to gain 
clearer vision of the realities of life and a nobler energy from these 
great memories. 



WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE. 
1809-1898. 



William Ewart Gladstone, a famous English statesman born in Liver- 
pool, December 29, 1809. He was the fourth son of Sir John Gladstone, 



40 LiiNCOLN Centenary 



who removed from Glasgow to Liverpool in 1785, made a fortune as a 
merchant, and was created a baronet in 1846. William went to Eton 
and to Oxford, where he was graduated in 1831 with the highest honors. 
The next year he entered Parliament; In 1843 he became president of 
the board of trade, and after that was almost continuously in office. He 
was chancellor of the exchequer in 1852-55, in 1859-66, and in 1868-74, 
and in 1868-74 premier or prime minister. He was chancellor for the 
fourth time in 1880-82, and premier again in 1880-85, in 1886, and 1892-94. 
He began his political life as a Tory or Conservative, but in time became 
a Liberal and introduced many reforms, especially in the government 
of Ireland. He was offered a peerage, but always declined, preferring 
to be called the "Great Commoner". Though the most prominent man in 
politics during this time and being almost continuously in Parliament, 
he yet found leisure for study and for writing. He contributed much to 
reviews, and published important books, especially about Homer and his 
age. He died at his residence, Hawarden Castle, near Chester, when 
eighty-eight years old, May 19, 1898. 



LORD ALFRED TENNYSON. 
1809-1892. 



Lord Alfred Tennyson, a famous English poet, born at Somersby, 
Lincolnshire, August 6, 1809. His first poem was published when he was 
eighteen years old, in a small volume containing also some verses of hi.s 
brother Charles, called "Poems by Two Brothers." Although he began 
writing so early, it was not until he was thirty-three that he wrote the 
"Morte d'Arthur," "Locksley Hall," and the "Two Voices," which caused 
him to be considered the first poet of the age. In 1850, on the death of 
Wordsworth, he became poet laureate, or poet for the crown. Tennyson's 
"Idylls of the King", consisting of nine poems, taken from stories about 
King Arthur, make together the most beautiful epic which the English 
language has produced for two hundred years. Tennyson wrote his poems 
very carefully, and went over them a great many times, changing words 
and phrases until they were as perfect as he could make them. Among 
his other works are "In Memoriam," "Maud," "Enoch Arden," and several 
dramas, among them "Queen Mary," "Harold," "Becket," and "The Forest- 
ers." In 1884 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Tennyson of 
D'Eyncourt. His home in the Isle of Wight is called "Farringford." 
He died at Aldworth House, near Haslemere, Surry, when eighty-three 
years -Old, October 6, 1892, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. 



FREDERICK FRANCOIS CHOPIN. 
1809-1894. 



Frederick Francois Chopin a celebrated Polish composer and pianist, 
born near Warsaw, March 1, 1809. He wrote much dance music such 
as mazurkas and polonaises, but also large works for piano and orchestra. 
He lived in Paris, and was long a friend of George Sand. He died in 
Paris when forty years old, October 17, 1849. 




LiBEETY Enlightening the World. 
Statue in New York Harbor presented by France. 




George Washington. 



And Other 1909 Anniveesaeies. 41 

FELIX MENDEL8S0HN-BARTH0LDY. 

1809-1847. 



Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a famous German musician, born in Ham- 
burg, February 3, 1809. His father was named Abraham Mendelssohn, 
the name Bartholdy, which he added to his own, being that of his wife. 
The Mendelssohn-Bartholdys were converts from Judaism to Christianity, 
and their son Felix was brought up in the Lutheran religion. When he was 
less than six years old he played with great skill on the piano, and when 
eight he could read the most difficult music, and wrote pieces for the 
piano and violin. He had a sister Fanny who was also musical, and the 
two would often play together their own pieces in presence of the visitors 
who came to their house. The first of his works known to the public 
was his "Midsummer Night's Dream", his principal other compositions 
being his oratorios of "Elijah" and "St. Paul", and his charming "Songs 
without Words". He wrote beautiful letters to his friends, which hav-3 
been published since his death. The last twelve years of his life were 
spent at Leipsic, where he died, when thirty-eight years old, November 
4, 1847. 



BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS. 



The pleasing custom of observing the birthdays of eminent statesman and 
leading authors in our schools has become a very popular and efficient 
means of bringing before the youth of our State the life, character and 
writings of some of our greatest Americans. Most of the educational 
publications of the day have been emphasizing this subject, and the pupils 
have become more or less familiar with the writings of a number of our 
best authors. From time to time within the last five years there have 
been given in the Institute programs, outlines for the observance of birth- 
days, and we are led to believe that much interest has been awakened in 
the subject. Not only are we thus calling attention to good literature, 
but the pupils are learning of the exalted character of those who have 
given the world some of its best thought. 

What a wealth of names worthy of remembrance each year the month of 
February presents, — Washington, Lincoln, Lowell and Longfellow! The 
lives and characters of these great Americans cannot be heM up too often 
before our youth as models of excellence. Then, too, all through the 
school year names and dates will present themselves, and the tact and 
ingenuity of the teacher will suggest appropriate exercises for each 
occasion. Our observation is that pupils gladly enter into the spirit of 
these exercises and are not only willing but anxious to take part therein. 
Material suitable for these observances will be found in many school 
periodicals, and various publications will furnish an abundant supply of 
most excellent sketches and outlines. Do not fail to invite the parents 
to be present on these birthday occasions, and it would be an excellent 
plan to have a short address by some prominent citizen in the com- 
munity. It would not be at all out of place to celebrate the birthday of 
some leading man or woman of the neighborhood who had been a bene- 



42 



LiNCOLx Centenary 



factor of the school or who has shown special interest in educational 
work. Do not let any of these occasions detract from your school work, 
but rather let them add interest and variety in such degree as will make 
your teaching more effective. 




THE WASHINGTON ELM 

This tree still stands at Cambridge, Mass. It is on Garden street, a 
short distance from the colleges, and is a large, well-preserved tree. An 
iron fence is built around it, and on a stone in front is the following 
inscription: "Under this tree George Washington took command of the 
American Army, July 3, 1775." 



Beneath our consecrated elm 
A century ago he stood 

Famed vaguely for that old fight in the wood 
"Whose red surge sought, but could not overwhelm 
The life foredoomed to wield our rough-hewn helm: 
* * * * * 

Firmly erect, he towered above them ali, 
The incarnate discipline that was to free 
With iron curb that armed democracy. 

— Lowell — ''Under the Old Elm" 

Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston. 



And Othee 1909 Anniveksaeies. 43 

WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY. 
Suggestive Program 



Song — America. 

Reading — Washington's Rules of Conduct. 

Recitation — The Twenty-second of February — William Ciillen Bryant. 
Recitation — The American Flag — Joseph Rodman Drake. 
Song — Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean. 

Reading — Selection from Edward Everett Hale's "A Man Without a 
Country." 

Exercise — Roll Call Responses — Quotations from Washington. 

Song — Selected. 

Reading — Washington's Farewell Address. 

Short Address. 



THE AMERICAN FLAG. 



When Freedom from her mountain height, 

Unfurled her standard to the air, 

She tore the azure robe of Night, 

And set the stars of glory there. 

She mingled with its gorgeous dyes 

The milky baldric of the skies. 

And striped its pure celestial white 

With streakings of the mornings' light; 

Then from her mansion in the sun 

She called her eagle-bearer down, 

And gave into his mighty hand 

The symbol of her chosen land. 

Flag of the free heart's hope and home! 

By angel's hands to valor given; 

Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, 

And all thy hues were born in heaven. 

Forever float that standard sheet! 

Where breathes the foe but falls before us. 

With Freedom's soil beneath our feet. 

And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us. 

— Joseph Rodman Drake. 



TRIBUTE TO WASHINGTON. 
[Air: "America."] 



Great Washington, to thee, 
Leader of Liberty, 

Our praise is due. 
On thro' thy natal day, 
While love our hearts shall 
We now a tribute pay 

To thee, most true. 



44 LiNCOLX Cextexary 



We love to speak thy name 
And thy great deeds proclaim 

By valor won. 
We love to gather here 
To hold thy memory dear, 
Thy glorious name revere, 

Great Washington. 

—Ada Simpson Sherwood. 



A HIGH RESOLVE. 



I think I'll be like Washington, 

As dignified and w^ise; 
Folks always say a boy can be 

A great man if he tries. 

And then, pei-haps, when I am old, 

People will celebrate 
The birthday of John Henry Jones, 

And I shall live in state. 

Faithful boys make faithful men; 
I'll always do my best, and then 
I'll have a name, when I am old, 
Worth more to me than shining gold. 
— Selected. 



LONGFELLOW'S BIRTHDAY— February 27, 18o: 
A Suggestive Program. 



1. Song by the School, The Rainy Day. 

2. Essay, Longfellow's Prose Works. 

3. Recitation, The Children's Hour. 

4. Recitation, The Village Blacksmith. 

5. Solo, The Arrow and the Song. 

6. Dramatization, Scenes from Hiawatha. 

7. Chorus by School, Excelsior. 

8. Recitation, Paul Revere's Ride. 

9. Recitation, The Old Clock on the Stairs. 

10. Solo, the Bridge. 

11. Dramatization, The Courtship of Miles Standish. 

12. Song by the School. 



LONGFELLOW, 1807-1882. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the most popular of our poets, was born 
at Portland, Maine, in 1807. He graduated at Bowdoin College in the 
class of 1825, and afterwards, at various times, further enriched his 
mind by European study and travel. For twenty-five years (1829 to 1854) 



And Other 1909 Anniversaries. 



45 



he filled a professorship in college, six years in Bowdoin, and nineteen 
years in Harvard. 

He lived at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in an old house once occupied 
by General Washington as headquarters. To this fact he alludes in his 
poem. To a Child. 

Professor Longfellow was twice married. His first wife died at Rotter- 
dam, Holland, in 1835; his second wife was burned to death in 1861, her 
clothes having accidently taken fire while sealing an envelope at the 
flame of a taper. 

The following are some of Longfellow's most popular poems: Evan- 
geline, Tales of a Wayside Inn, Courtship of Miles Standish, The Building 
of the Ship, The Old Clock on the Stairs, the Santa Filomena, The Bridge 
The Builders, Resignation, The Day is Done, The Hanging of the Crane, 
and Morituri Salutamus. 

He also published three popular prose works — Outre Mer, Hyperion, and 
Kavanaugh — and an excellent poetical Translation of Dante, with copious 
notes and commentaries. 

Longfellow's chief characteristics are simplicity, grace, and refinement 
Of imagination and passion he has but little. He does not often startle 
his readers by the utterance of a new and striking thought, but he per- 
petually charms them by presenting the ordinary sentiments of humanity 
in a new and more attractive garb. He died March 24, 1882. From 
Westlake's Common School Literature, published by the Christopher Sow- 
er Company. 




The "Craicie House," The Longfellow Home. Cambridge, Mass. 



"Once, ah, once within these walls 
One whom memory oft recalls 

The Father of his Country dwelt." 



46 Lincoln Centenaey 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL— 1819-1891 
Suggestive Program. 



1. Song by the School. 

2. Sketch of Lowell's Life and Outline of His Works. 

3. Recitation: The Fountain. 

4. Recitation: The Fatherland. 

5. Music. 

o. Recitation: The Heritage. 

7. Reading: Vision of Sir Launfal. Prelude to Part First. 

8. Teacher to explain the Story of the Holy Grail and call attention 
to Tennyson's treatment of the same subject. 

9. Notes on the Biglow Papers. 

10. Write brief sketch of Anti-Slavery Leaders. 

11. Select Quotations by the School. 

12. Song: America. 



Biographical. 

James Russell Lowell was born at Elmwood, Cambridge, Mass., February 
22, 1819. He was the youngest of a family of five, two daughters and 
three sons. On his father's side he came from; a succession of New 
England men who, for three generations had been in professional life. 
His mother, 'Mrs. Harriet Spence Lowell, was of Scotch origin, and was 
greatly pleased to fancy herself descended from the hero of one of the 
most famous ballads, Sir Patrick Spens, and she made a genuine link 
in the Poetic Succession. 

His acquaintance with books and his schooling began early. He learn- 
ed his letters in a dame school and afterwards entered Mr. William Well's 
classical school, in which he had a thorough drill in Latin. He entered 
Harvard at the age of fifteen, and soon after his graduation in 183S, 
began the study of law, but his bent was strongly toward literature. 

He and Robert Carter established "The Pioneer," which printed con- 
tributions by Hawthorne, Poe, Whittier, and others. 

Lowell's ardent nature showed itself in the first series of "The Bigelow 
Papers", written in a spirit of indignation during the Mexican War. His 
second series of "The Bigelow Papers," written during the war for the 
Union, shows vividly his political faith and strong patriotism. 

While in Europe, 1851-1852, his wife's health failed, and she died in 
1853. In 1855 he was chosen successor to Longfellow as Professor of 
French and Spanish Languages in Harvard College. In 1857 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Frances Dunlap, who died in England in 1885. 

Mr. Lowell spent eight years of his life, 1877-1885, in the foreign ser- 
vice of his country. He died at Elmwood, August 12, 1891. 



"And what is so rare as a day in June? 

Then if ever come perfect days; 
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune. 

And over it softly her warm ear lays," 

— Sir Launfal. 



And Other 1909 Anniversaries. 47 



"Of all the myriad moods of mind 

That through the soul come thronging, 
What one was e'er so dear, so kind. 
So beautiful, as longing? 
The thing we long for, that we are 

For one transcendent moment, 

Before the present, poor and bare, 

Can make its sneering comment. 

Still through our paltry stir and strife 

Glows down the wished ideal. 

And Longing moulds in clay what life 

Carves in the marble real. 
To let the new life in, we know, 

Desire must ope the portal; 
Perhaps the longing to be so 
Helps make the soul immortal. 

— Longing. 



OLIVER WETNDELL HOLMES. 
A Suggestive Program. 



1. Song. 

2. Paper — Holmes' Education and Avocations. 

3. Recitation — The Last Leaf. 

4. Recitation — The Chambered Nautilus. 

5. Song— The Star Spangler Banner. 

g_ story — How Holmes saved the Old Warship Constitution. 

7. Recitation — Old Ironsides. 

8. Recitation— The One Hoss Shay. 

9. Holmes' Writings. 

10. A series of Quotations from Holmes by Pupils of the School. 

11. Readings from the Atlantic Monthly, which Holmes founded. 



A Sketch of Holmes. 
Holmes, the wittiest and kindest of the famous group of American men 
of letters, did " live to be the last on the tree," for when he departed 
in 1894 there remained none of the six to mourn his loss. He was born 
of educated parents, had the advantage of good early training, graduated 
at Harvard University, engaged in the practice of medicine and held 
the chair of anatomy in Dartmouth College and Harvard University, but 
later devoted himself to his literary work for which he is principally 
known. He was the founder of the Atlantic Monthly. He was both ver- 
satile and brilliant, combined humor with pathos, wrote in prose and verse 
and everywhere seemed equally at home. The Autocrat of the Breakfast 
Table in prose and the Chambered Nautilus in verse are perhaps the 
best known and most popular of his works. 



48 Lincoln Centenaby 



EDGAR ALLAN POE. 



On January 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston. In the forty 
years of his life he produced stories, poems and essays which, taken to- 
gether, make him one of the most remarkable wi'iters of his century. 
His life was unhappy, broken by poverty and disease, and the clear, 
delicate finish of his art was an achievement of will and devotion in the 
face of hard circumstances. 

Poes tales have gone all over the world, and he is one of the acknowl- 
edged masters of the short story. He was the father of the detective 
story, which in ingenuity has never surpassed its originator. His tales 
of psychological horror, remorse and fear caught the imagination of the 
public, and have held it through half a century of abundant fiction. There 
is nothing better of their kind than "William Wilson" and "The Fail of 
the House of Usher." 

Poe's poetry enjoys a distinction which no other American poet has 
attained in appealing to the general ^public on the one hand and to the 
poet and the artist on the other. His "Raven" was reprinted all over 
America, and some of his lines, such as 



The glory that icas Greece and the grandeur that was Rome. 
are among the familiar great phrases of poetry. Meanwhile he influenced 
two generations of lyric poets in England and France. It is because of 
this following of creative appreciators in Europe, such as he has not had 
in America, that Poe seems less a hero among his countrymen than 
among foreigners. But Poe has always had hosts of readers in America, 
and the American editions of his works have been legion. 

In criticism he set a new standard of independence at a time when 
American literary thought was narrow, provincial, and ignorant of the 
world's literature. The brilliant and versatile mind shines serenely at 
the end of its first century. 

Courtesy Youth's Companion. 



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